The Albion Centre

[J-M-Z]

Anchors like Canadian Tire, Shoppers and No Frills would most likely survive on their own (or as a strip mall - as is the case with most of the surrounding area). The smaller, no-name stores may be another story.

I would imagine Albion Cinemas is still closed at the moment due to the pandemic.

 

[FW36]

Anchors like Canadian Tire, Shoppers and No Frills would most likely survive on their own (or as a strip mall - as is the case with most of the surrounding area). The smaller, no-name stores may be another story.

I would imagine Albion Cinemas is still closed at the moment due to the pandemic.

Albion cinemas is closed. the banks, McDonalds and anchor stores were the only busy areas.

 

[o_nolan1]

The Toronto Public Library's Digital Archive is a treasure trove for vintage photos, facts and information.

Today's find includes a look inside Shopper's Drug Mart at Albion Mall back in 1979:

View attachment 242120

"Two Floras. MP Flora Macdonald meets a namesake while campaigning in the Albion Mall for Tory candidate John Hanna of Etobicoke
North. The less famous Flora is an employee of Shoppers Drug Mart. The pair exchanged autographs".

Next to the Beer Store and Albion Cinemas, Shoppers could very well be the oldest store still standing in the mall.

Going back even further, I found a photo going over the construction of the nearby Robert J. Smith (also known as
Albion Lodge) apartments; which were completed in 1966:

View attachment 242121

"The model of a 520-suite; $3;500;000 housing project for persons over 60 years of age is studied by Ontario Economics
Minister Stanley Randall (left) and Metro Chairman William Allen. It will be built in conjunction with Thistletown low-rent
project on west side of Kipling Ave. just south of Albion Rd."

My great grandfather lived in this complex from when it opened. Our family used to visit him every Sunday from our house on nearby Kendleton Drive.

 

[o_nolan1]

Stumbled across the vintage photos about a month ago. Splendid finds with a nice shot or two from inside the mall.

Going back to Shoppers World Albion: before K Mart was converted into a Canadian Tire, was the location once a Simpsons/Sears as well?
An old friend of the family also said before No Frills and Fortinos, Albion used to have either a Loblaws or Dominion in the 1980's (anyone care to verify?).

Here's more vintage ads which mentions Albion Cinemas/Odeon from 1974 and 1975:

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A rare exterior view of Shoppers World Albion from 1980 (when driving along Albion rd.):

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Besides the Odeon Cinemas logo, Brewers Retail (more commonly known today as The Beer Store) can be spotted on the left.

Credit: cinematreasures.org

View attachment 241177

A modern comparison shot from google street view. Of course, The Beer store still remains on-site within Albion's parking lot.

Modernizing or not, I'd also like to go on record saying I much prefer the coloured balconies (as seen along Stevenson road in the background) than today's clear design.

I remember the Big Boy restaurant and the Odeon before the mall was built.

 

[J-M-Z]

I remember the Big Boy restaurant and the Odeon before the mall was built.

Would you happen to have any photos of Albion from the era? Vintage shots of the mall are hard to come by.

 

[o_nolan1]

Would you happen to have any photos of Albion from the era? Vintage shots of the mall are hard to come by.

I have seen some online. I'll have a look again. My parents moved to Rexdale in 1967. I remember looking out the living room window on Kendleton Drive and seeing farms and barns in the distance. They had just built Humbergrove which is now Henry Carr. I vaguely remember the shoppers drug mart site being a doctor's office or clinic.

 

[J-M-Z]

More vintage photos of Albion Mall from back in the day:

From the South side of Albion Mall (across from the Fire Station) used to be a Big Boy Burgers. 1970's.

Another incredible find is an exterior shot of Albion Mall from 1964. Brewers Retail would become The Beer Store - before
becoming detached in the decades to follow.

I'm also guessing Hopedale Drugs would become Shoppers Drug Mart by the early 1980's.

K Mart Cafeteria.

Vintage Rexdale had this to say about the above photo:

"Here's a great photo of the Albion Mall when it caught fire. It comes from Donna
Black and was taken in 1970 after a fire had started at Maher Shoes due to a cigarette. You can see 60 Stevenson Rd. in the background
so this would be the southside entrance where Loblaws was originally and where Shoppers Drug Mart eventually took over. Kmart garages
would be to the right. "

Vintage Rexdale had this to say about the above photo:

"It's a photo of Albion Music and Record Shop in the Albion Mall before the mall was enclosed. It was taken by James Fenning when he worked
there. Some of you may remember the Albion Mall was a strip mall before it was converted in 1970, so my guess is this photo was taken in the
late 60's. The store itself was located across from Loblaw's supermarket before it was moved closer to the liquor store when the mall was enclosed."

And, if you'd like to see more amazing photos from the Rexdale/Smithfield area, I highly recommend checking out their official Instagram and facebook
pages:

Vintage Rexdale (@vintagerexdale) • Instagram photos and videos

796 Followers, 3 Following, 107 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Vintage Rexdale (@vintagerexdale)

www.instagram.com

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www.facebook.com

 

[J-M-Z]

More vintage Albion Mall photos:

Mind the low quality, this aerial shot was taken in 1971 from the 12th floor of 1865 Martin Grove Rd.

In the shot, you can see Albion Rd. heading towards Kipling ave. The bright spot in the middle is Shoppers World Albion.
The building beneath Shoppers World Albion is Food City (which would become Price Chopper and now Sunny's Food Mart).

In the foreground is a patch of land and home that would be demolished to make way for more store extensions (The Woodshed
and Consumer's Distributing to name a few); now known as Finch Albion Centre.

Another vintage advertisement.

Looks like a pack of matches from Jug City - the oldest remaining shop from Finch Albion.

An advertisement for the downstairs Billiards & Bar. Circa 1970's, I believe.

I remember this establishment being known as Friar Tuck's when it was part of Albion back in the 1990's.

Before Albion Mall had a Pizza Pizza, it had Pa-pa-pa-pa Pizza No-va.

Another shot of the nearby Esso Gas Station on Martin Grove and Albion Rd. circa 1970's.

The gas station that used to exist across the street (not pictured) was a Gulf gas station.

Video 99 lasted a number of years within the nearby Finch Albion Centre.

 

[J-M-Z]

Finding vintage, inside shots of Shoppers World Albion after the mall was enclosed is a chore in itself. Luckily, I found another one
from (I reckon) the 1980's:

Anyone recognize the spot? Looks like Rochetti's was set up near one of the entrances (my guess is near the entrance closest to Finch).

When the image is reversed, you can see a reflection of the store logo that was across from Rochetti's.
To me, it looks like "Swell". Any thoughts?

From our friends at Rexdale - Old Photo's facebook group, an ad for Shoppers World Albion from 1984:

The art style for this ad reminds me of No Frills.

An original price list for Brewer's Retail (now known as The Beer Store). The Beer Store's selection has definitely improved over the years.

 

[J-M-Z]

From the Rexdale - Old photos facebook group comes a scan of Big Boy's menu from the 1960's - early 1970's:

Big Boy Burgers was located immediately across from the Fire Station on Albion rd. Check out those prices!

 

[J-M-Z]

Let's go back in time to see a directory of every store that was in the Albion Mall circa 1984:

Music World at Albion was definitely before my time. Here's a Music World shopping bag from (I'm assuming) the 1980's.

 

[Towered]

Haha, "druggist" - there's a word you don't see anymore.

 

[J-M-Z]

Turns out the Fast Food Kiosk that I was thinking about was called "Snack Shack". It operated with Silver Dollar on the left and (if I remember)
Stereo King, Pet Valu and Mike's Convenience on the right. It's now a Bubble Tea kiosk as I previously mentioned.

In the Rexdale Old Photos facebook group, there are a few former employees that worked in various stores in Albion from as far back as the early 1970's.
Some of which are asking around for old photos from Albion's owners.

 

[J-M-Z]

Using the website Wayback machine, it's possible to visit the Albion mall as far back as 2001.

Albion Centre's 2001 homepage. The Food Court was only a few years old by this point and Fortinos was still an anchor.

A map layout of Albion Mall from 2001 highlighting the mall's main anchors. Fortinos would be replaced by No Frills in the years to follow.

Brewer's Retail (The Beer Store) was still attached to the mall in the bottom left corner, too.

A store directory from 2001.

I don't know about you, but I'd spend $4000 dollars at the Albion Mall for a conference bag!

By navigating through the Wayback machine website, you can access more content from the mall after 2001 (change of stores in the directory section, update of different prizes, etc). In case you'd
like to do some digging around yourself: CLICK HERE

 

[J-M-Z]

Courtesy of the "Rexdale - Old Photos" facebook group: Today's find is a layout of the Albion Centre from 1979. How many stores do you remember?

Members of the group listed these so far:


76 - Bank of Montreal
75 - Mac's
72 - Deli
70 - Music World
69 - Thrifty's
68 - Mr. Pet
67 - Travel Centre
78 - Snack Shack
80 - Open Window Bakery
8 - Clifton Florist
5 - Lizanne's
87 - Coles
10 - CIBC
33 - Becker's
20 - Restaurant
35 Stereo King
91 Laura Secord
53 Elsie's
31 Jolly Friar's